Maeve Kyle was the first Irish woman to compete in an Olympic track event when she ran both the 100 and 200 metres at the 1956 Games in Melbourne. She was also a finalist over 400 metres at the 1962 European Championships in Belgrade. Together with her husband, Sean, Maeve has spent years as a driving force behind the club.
Founded in 1955 as a girls athletics club, it was two years later that it became a mixed club for the Ballymena area. In 1979, it joined with Antrim.
Membership: Stands around the 120 mark, although we never see them all at the one time. It's very much a family club, and we have many parents as coaches with nearly 50 athletes competing at under-15 level. There are about 12 coaches altogether, as well as another six pace-setters.
Status: We had a business analysis four years ago and decided that the main aim would be to provide a training environment for individual talent. We don't enter many team competitions, except the national track and field league, and instead focus on the individual events.
Honours: There have been many members over the years on both Irish and British Olympic teams. Sean has also coached such successful athletes as Fanahan McSweeney, Michael Hoey and Margaret Murphy. Recently we've had over 200 medals in juvenile competitions this summer, while James McIlroy has made a huge breakthrough internationally.
Finest Hour: One of the best moments would have to be Sharon McPeake's victory for Northern Ireland in the high jump at the Commonwealth Games back in 1986.
Worst Moment: There's been so much to be proud of that nothing really stands out. Of course there are difficulties in running the club, but we do have a good working system now that gets most tasks done as smoothly as possible.
Club Hero: There would be a few, although Carol Roberts deserves special mention by running the club canteen that provides the essential cup of tea to tired athletes after training.
Greatest Rivals: We don't look at the sport that way, since our only concern is to help each athlete reach their individual potential. Like all clubs, funding can be a problem, but we do have trust funds for a number of athletes to assist them as much as we can.
